


Reflect the storm

by sasha_bo



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Minor Angst, Minor Violence, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, happy with feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-11-22
Packaged: 2018-02-19 21:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2403683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sasha_bo/pseuds/sasha_bo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Stiles wanted to do was summon help....not cause a magical family reunion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Deaton had told him - back when he had come up with this insane excuse of a plan - that belief and the will of the caster was the major component to the success of what he was trying to achieve.

Stiles had never believed as hard as he did at that moment. He had no choice. He wasn’t a clairvoyant but even he knew that his pack - his family - would not survive this fight.

It was the same as the times before: Big bad arrived, caused chaos, the pack fought and they won. However unlike other times, they weren’t winning. Another pack had decided to take their chance with the Beacon Hills pack and for once the Beacon Hills contingent has underestimated their opponents. Stiles could see the fight from the corner of his eye as he chanted the words he needed and could see Scott and Derek were about to lose. About to die at the hands of another Alpha. With a burst of emotion at the new realisation of just how deep in the shit they were, Stiles continued.

While Stiles had full belief in his pack: he was also realistic in the fact that one day they would come across something which would out-power and out-smart them. That’s why he developed himself under Deaton’s guidance. Originally he thought that the 'spark' Deaton had mentioned would be of benefit to him. When the man unveiled that it was, in fact, useless Stiles still persevered with the understanding that he may be the packs last hope. He had begun his training at 18 and now at 26 was able to hold his own, wolves beside him or not.

Which was why he was now incased within a hastily dirt drawn circle with emblems surrounding him, casting a call for help. For a divine intervention to protect and fight for his pack. He felt the breath being punched out of him as the spell took place, his call answered.

Closing his eyes and fighting against the overwhelming feeling of nausea, Stiles tried to picture who or what he had summoned. A giant, a wizard...hell even an orc. Instead when he opened his eyes he was greeted with the sight of two men lying a few feet in front of him.

On closer inspection they were actually grappling with each other. The one lying on top was trying to put the other in a headlock while the bottom one pulled his hair while slapping him in the face.

Stiles was, to put it mildly, disappointed.

"I told you, that was my cheesecake! No wonder you’re fat!" shouted the guy on top, who had now given up on the headlock and was now fighting the other slap for slap.

"Snooze you lose lard-ass. Your name wasn’t on it." replied the other man.

"Yes it was. It clearly said on the label it was mine and you weren’t even meant to look at it. Bet you ate that as well just like you do with everything of mine!"

The slapping momentarily stopped as the man (the one who had apparently eaten this cheesecake) sat up with an indignant look on his face "Oh my god dude that was ONE time. ONE! Get over it. I bought you another."

Before a retort could be uttered, Stiles weakly batted his hand in Scott and Derek’s direction "Erm....little help??"

When the two men turned to look at him Stiles was surprised to find that they weren’t men but teenagers. He only had to briefly wonder what in the hell divine intervention thought it was doing before he received his answer when the men....boys...turned to face the fight. Two loud roars were released before they sprinted to the rival alpha who was currently straddling a fallen Derek with his hand around this throat, preparing to rip it out.

With a speed and grace that no other pack member had, the boys had managed to tag-team the alpha with a series of assaults and air maneuvers which left the man speechless and also a bit dead. Within no time the rest of the rival pack was either dead or had run away.

Once the dust had settled, everyone turned in shock to face the newbies who were oblivious to the stares. Instead they congratulated themselves with a series of high-fives, fist pumps and back slaps. Stiles watched as they made their way over to him, still on a high of adrenaline after the fight. It wasn’t until one of them (The cheese-cake thief) turned to him that the silence was broken.

"Pops did you see that?!? We were fucking...arg sorry....fudging amazing. He was all like, rawr and we were like no, not today!"

It took a while for Stiles to fully connect with the words that boy had spoken to him, mind going blank as the boy rattled on about the fight giving him a play-by-play account as if he hadn’t been there kneeling on the ground as it had occurred. All he could hear was 'pops, pops, pops' repeating in his head. Looking around his pack as if to confirm what he had heard, he was meet with some shocked faces and some confused ones.

The confused ones were currently looking towards the other boy (the cheese-cake owner) as he walked up to Derek with a hopeful look on his face "Was that ok Dad? I mean we messed up the kick combo but I think we did ok..."

Stiles hoped to god his face was nowhere near resembling the look Derek had on his at that present moment. But in all honesty, he is pretty sure Derek was a mirror image of him.

Taking a deep breath Stiles tried to organise his thoughts ' _Ok, ok I have somehow magic'd my child and Derek’s child from the future. It's ok Stiles, it’s all going to be o....'_

His inner pep-talk was destroyed by the cake ruiner as he turned and walked towards Derek "Yo Dad, you don’t still live in the train do you??"

Stiles thought for a second that he physically felt the punch the other boy gave his...brother?...but quickly realised it was his own stomach turning.

Christ what had he done.

The silence seemed to seep into every pore of the forest as everybody tried to take in what had just happened. So all in all, Stiles could be forgiven for the shock when he realised that it was Derek - the wolf who never met a sentence he liked - who broke the silence.

He pointed to himself "Dad?"

The boys nodded their heads.

Derek pointed to Stiles "Pops?"

The boys nodded again.

Derek seemed to take after his sons as he nodded to himself, retreating back into his own head while avoiding Stile's gaze.

Lydia spoke up this time, looking towards Scott and Derek "Are they telling the truth?"

Scott glanced towards Stiles before he slowly nodded "It’s...their heartbeats aren’t skipping and they just, smell different but it reminds me of you. Both of you."

Stiles stared at them in shock, fully analyzing the teenagers in front of him.

"How?" Derek asked, brow raised in questioning. The boys looked at each other in confirmation before the cake thief spoke up for them.

"Pops sperm, Aunt Cora's egg and a surrogate. No Pops, no ass-babies in your future." Stiles resented the snort of laughter from Malia even as he breathed a small sigh of relief.

Deciding to finally stand, Stiles addressed the two "Ok I can’t keep calling you cake thief and cake owner" Stiles ignored the glare the two lads shot at each other "so names would be good."

The cake owner cleared his throat “Chris”

“Zack” the cake thief stated.

Stiles clapped his hands together “Right so…Chris and Zack? Yeah ok, so we need to figure out what to do with you guys and I need to figure out how to tell Dad he is a Grampa without him attempting to shot a hole into Derek’s face so let’s go.”

Stiles turned and walked towards the parked cars, lamenting his decision earlier that day to catch a ride with Derek while his Jeep was getting fixed. It was only when the four of them piled into the car and they were heading to Stiles Dad’s home that Stiles finally addressed Derek for the first time since everything happened.

“Well……..At least we know now our genes together make fucking handsome children.”

Stiles couldn’t help but be proud when Derek nodded in agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a tense stand-off in the elder Stilinski kitchen later that night with the two future spawn on one side of the table and Stiles, Derek and John on the other. Luckily for Stiles – who for the first time in a long time was actually speechless – John had taken full reign of the interrogation. 

“You honestly want me to believe that my son - my idiotic son - managed to summon his children from the future?” 

Unlike the bravado the boys had in the forest, they sat at the table like chastised children. Their heads were bowed and their hands clasped on their laps. Stiles couldn’t help but feel a twinge of…sympathy possibly. Whatever it was he didn’t feel comfortable. A quick glance at Derek showed that Derek felt the same, a slight grimace on his face. 

Stiles took the time to study the boys. His apparent sons. It wasn’t until the four of them walked into John’s home that he realised they were all the same height. He didn’t even realise him and Derek were the same height until just then. Looking closer at their faces with the information he now knew, he could start to pick out the characteristics the boys had inherited from the Stilinski-Hale genes. Both boys had Derek’s eyes, brows and build but other than that, their features took after Stiles. Chris seemed to air on the side of stoic whereas Zack looked to have inherited a bit more of Stiles’ spazziness. Stiles wasn’t lying a single bit when he said he and Derek seemed to produce stunning kids. 

John stood and started to pace when the boys seemed unwilling to answer his previous question. 

“Say you are telling the truth – and let me tell you that I have my doubts – then why? Did you know this would happen? Why are you still here? You did what the spell wanted but you are still here…” 

Stiles perked at the questions, eager to hear the answers. 

Zack gave a quick glance towards Chris before giving him a hard nudge in the side, causing the other to roll his eyes at his brother (another creepy Derek characteristic) before he answered. 

“We knew this would happen. Dad and Pops told us when we were younger so we wouldn’t be caught out. We are still here because there is more to do. The spell was for us to protect the pack and help and that’s why we are here. We won’t leave until we are finished.” 

Stiles seemed to regain his voice “Another threat?? Is it a pack?” 

The boys shook their heads, briefly glancing up to meet their grandfathers eyes before ducking down again. 

“I don’t understand. I mean why are you telling us who you are? I mean all the films say not to like the butterfly effect. Oh god, what if you don’t become you anymore because of this….” 

Stiles paused as his Dad clasped his hand on his son’s shoulder with the un-spoken command to let the younger ones talk. This time it was Zack who spoke up. 

“You told us to. You said this was how it was meant to go. The way it was always meant to go. We are meant to be here and are meant to do this.” 

Derek finally made his presence known, asking just one question “Are we all happy?” 

Both boys looked up before nodding, small smiles on their faces “Yeah” answered Chris. That seemed to be all Derek needed as he stood up and walked out the house. Stiles stared open mouthed at the newly closed door before his dad brought him out of his thoughts. 

“My wife’s name?” 

“Granma Claudia” answered Chris 

“Stiles’ favorite teddy?” 

“Wolf teddy named dog” answered Zack 

“What do we do on the anniversary?” Oh good question, Stiles thought. If they were related they would know exactly what anniversary they were asking about. 

“You and Pop used to have a picnic by her grave and fill her in on the past year. Then you come home, order take-away, watch soppy films and fall asleep on the couch. You still do it but we and Dad join in.” Zack answered again before Chris interrupted. 

“You always buy her three bouquets of flowers on the anniversary. Yellow chrysanthemums because they were the first flowers you ever gave her before you asked her to prom. Hibiscus because you got her them for her wedding anniversary and roses. Also a sprig of holly because she loved Holly. Pop told us once that if he and Dad had a girl she would be called Holly.” 

Stiles was stunned. Nobody – not even Scott – knew all that. But Stiles also saw an opportunity to catch the potential spawn out. 

“You honestly don’t think I would call my daughter Claudia?” He attempted to impersonate the Hale brows but is quite certain he failed. 

Chris gave him a smirk. Stiles decided that there was too much Derek in Chris and he would have to start making plans now to decrease the influence his potential partner had on his potential son. 

“No you wouldn’t. Nobody would ever be Granma Claudia and you don’t want anyone trying to be – even by just having her name. She was unique and nobody could or would ever compare. You wanted your daughter to be unique for her own reasons. Same as why Dad wouldn’t name her after Granma Talia or Aunt Laura. It’s also why we are not named after your or his dad.” 

Stiles knew right then they were telling the truth. He had told nobody that. Ever. Even his dad was glancing at him with a hint of surprise. He sagged in his seat as everything hit him at once. 

“Fuck me I’m a father.” 

John still looked suspicious until Zack spoke up. 

“I submitted an essay on the history of the Tudors for my sports class once….” 

“Oh god, I’m a grandfather.” 

Both boys broke out into smiles when they realised they had convinced both Stilinski’s of their authenticity. Stiles also noticed they had also inherited Derek’s bunny teeth. Shit Derek. 

“What about….the other anniversary.” 

The boys hesitated before Chris again answered “We spend the whole day in the forest. Just us two, you and Dad. He never wants anybody else there. We go up to the preserve and set up camp near the old house and just hang out. At night, we shift while you get things set up then we just spend all night under the stars. Dad says it makes him feel closer to his family.” 

For a while Stiles felt morose for the family both he and Derek lost. 

“Are we…..are we good? I mean can you tell us, are there things you can’t say?” Stiles hesitantly asked. 

Zack answered “You just said to keep it about us, you and dad and the pack. But yes, you and Dad are good parents. You did what you could.” 

It was John who spoke this time “Tell us about yourselves. I want to know.” 

Chris took over the conversation, seeming to be the leader of the two “I’m 19 and Zack is 17. I’m about to go back to college in a few months and Zacky is just being useless as per usual. Don’t really know what to say. This is weird Pop.” 

Stiles snorted “Just start at the beginning then, tell us what you know.” 

“You and Dad had been together for a while and decided you wanted kids. You asked Cora for an….eurgh you know what, that part is disgusting and I don’t want to go into it. Anyway I popped out. Apparently you fainted and Dad cried. I believe you did faint but I’m sure you lied about Dad. The only time I remember seeing him close to tears was when Zack decided to wash his car with rocks. Anyway you both decided that Dad would stay at home while you worked. It worked for you. Anyway then you decided to ruin my life and have another child and ta da, here he sits.” 

Zack proceeded to do jazz-hands to the statement while Stiles seriously started to freak out that he actually was a father. 


	3. Chapter 3

Stepping outside for fresh air, Stiles tried to let the cool breeze calm down his mind. He let the faux-peace last for a few moments.

“So do you believe them?” a voice echoed through the darkness but Stiles didn’t flinch. He knew that voice better than most. He nodded his head before he answered.

“Yeah. They know stuff nobody does and…I mean look at them. That’s Stilinski and Hale at its finest.” He felt more then saw Derek come to stand beside him.

He couldn’t hold back his snort at the older wolf “Man, trust us to turn no-strings sex into a nuclear family. Can’t even do that right apparently.”

It was no secret to the pack (but to John and Melissa) that Stiles and Derek had been fooling around for the past few months. However that was all it was, fooling around.

There were no feelings, no emotion. Just sex. For Stiles it meant gratification with somebody who was hot, for Derek it was someone who wouldn’t try to kill him. Win for everyone. However this addition of the fact that Stiles and Derek were apparently end-game changed things. Looking at the older man, Stiles tried to look at him in a different light and found himself struggling. But he knew the wolf well enough to know he was doing the same to him.

He had known and seen Derek in the potential-serial-killer light, the distant acquaintance light, the decent person light and the mutual shared orgasm light but never as a life partner light.

Derek was grumpy, bull-headed and reckless. He was still so weighed down with guilt that Stiles wondered how the man could function at times and Stiles didn’t want to spend his life with a man like that. On the flip-side, Stiles was energetic, annoying and an asshole. He was 100% sure Derek didn’t want to spend his life with all that.

So there they were: at a stalemate. Both of them confronted with a future together that neither of them wanted.

Stiles shuddered at his next thought, knowing full well both wolves inside could hear them “We can….we can change it. This doesn’t have to be it. It hasn’t happened yet.”

He heard a sharp inhale from Derek and something smash from inside the house.

Derek seemed to mull the sentence over in his head before he gave his reply “They are family. They feel like it.”

Stiles knew what Derek was trying to say with so little words. They were the future which he never thought he would have: A future he didn’t want to give up. Stiles could sympathise slightly. He wanted the family again – to expand the one he currently had.

“So where does that leave us?” Stiles asked.

Derek hesitated “We try. See how it goes.”

Stiles nodded, conceding that he and Derek must have something to build on if the boys were the outcome. He was interrupted by the back door opening and a sheepish dark brown wolf slowly walking out, ears and head bowed. He spent the next few minutes gazing at the wolf, convinced during that time that he had never seen an animal so beautiful before until he heard rustling and was met with another, darker wolf standing in place of where Derek stood.

In seconds, both wolves had taken off to the back yard where the younger wolf was jumping and playfully biting the elder one. Derek, Stiles had to admit, was taking it all in his stride. Content to let the younger wolf invite him to play, he stood still and let him get his fill. Stiles attention was drawn away when he saw that his Dad and Zack had joined him to watch.

Stiles turned to Zack “So is this normal for us?”

Zack nodded enthusiastically “Oh yeah, Dad and dumb-ass…” Cue growl from the younger wolf and a snap of teeth in their general direction “would probably live as wolves all the time if you hadn’t of said they couldn’t come in the house on four legs. Dad and Scott are still training Chris so they spend a lot of time together while you get the blessed joy of having me.”

John frowned “But you’re a wolf too.”

“I am but still prefer hanging around with Pops then with frowny-face and frowny-face jr.” Both wolves stopped to glare at Zack who simply waved his hands in their general direction as if to prove his point.

Stiles was still stuck on something Zack had mentioned “Training? Training him for what?!”

Stiles couldn’t pinpoint exactly what he was feeling right then. A mixture of concern, panic and fear mostly. It worried him, to be feeling this way about somebody he had only met for a few hours. He ignored the pointed ‘Welcome to parenthood’ from his Dad and focused on Zack – who had gone suspiciously quiet.

“To become Alpha” Zack answered during a round of fake coughs. But everyone heard it. Stiles saw Derek step away from Chris, suspicion evident in his eyes even as a wolf. In answer Chris dropped to the floor, ears down, whimpering.

Stiles spluttered “Al…ALPHA?! Scott, Scott’s the Alpha. You….Chris there is no reason for you to be Alpha. God what are you doing?! If you are planning to kill him, leave now”

Zack seemed to pale at the accusation while Chris’s whimpers increased in pitch and frequency as he tried to crawl towards Derek who backed away.

“No Pops, you have it wrong. I swear. We love Uncle S. We would nev…..please believe us. Dad? Pops?” Stiles felt himself waver when he saw Zack start to visibly get upset but couldn’t bring himself to comfort. Not when they obviously were going to hurt his brother. So to say Stiles was shocked when John wrapped his arms around Zack and glared at Stiles was an understatement.

“Stiles, let him explain. Stop jumping to conclusions, both of you”

Zack seemed to compose himself before he explained “Scott……Normally in a pack, the Alpha-hood would pass to Scott’s child. Like it did with Granma Tal and Laura. But that can’t happen with Scott. Chris is the next alternative.”

Stiles was still angry, but his curiosity was running rampant “Explain”.

Zack wavered but made his mind up when he glanced at his brother, face transforming from upset at his brothers distress to firm features.

“Scott and Kira try for years for a child. Like 5 or 6 but nothing happens. It something to do with Uncle Scott’s little Scott’s. He might be an Alpha but that doesn’t mean he or we don’t suffer from different natural issues. Anyway they end up adopting but their child, their daughter, is human.”

John interrupted “Why not a wolf?”

Zack smiled in memory “They tried but felt no connection. They went on holiday to Europe for a bit after another failed attempt at adoption and fell in love with one of the orphans they met. After a while - once the paperwork was done - they brought her home.”

“And it doesn’t bother him?” Stiles asked

“No. He was never concerned about passing the Alpha-ness to his own children. He would rather give it all up if it meant he couldn’t have Sarah. He loves her more than anything – more so because of the battle he and Kira had to get to that point.”

“So how does that mean Chris is becoming Alpha without killing him?”

Zack answered “When it became apparent that Scott wasn’t a stud – Don’t look at me like that Pops, you have said worse to him – Deaton and Lydia looked for a way to transfer his power without killing him. Eventually they found a way. Blood rites and spells but it had to be somebody that was already pack. They decided the best candidate was Chris. Eldest son of the pack with an ex-Alpha and a magic caster as parents. Still took them a few years to convince you and Dad to it…”

“Why?! Pack needs an alpha and he is a good match. Why would we object?” Stiles argued, semi-insulted that he and Derek apparently stood in the way of the pack’s safety.

John was the one to answer for him “You’re thinking about this as a pack member and not a parent. Of course you wouldn’t want your child to become leader of a pack. It puts him in the front line, in danger. I’m still iffy on the details because you don’t tell me anything but in gangs, it’s the leader that is targeted. In this case, the target would be your son. I can tell you if I were you and you were Chris, I would do everything in my power to make sure that you would never be in that position.”

It was only then that Stiles realised the whining had stopped. Looking over, he saw the two wolves huddled together, Derek staring at them as Chris happily chewed on his ear.

“So we agreed in the end?” Stiles hesitantly asked, now starting to see and feel what his future self-felt.

“There were conditions but yes.”

“What were the conditions?” asked John.

“I would train up with Chris. Well most of the pack children trained but it was intensively on him and me. It’s only recently that Chris has taken more of a role on the pack running. He is about to take over from Dad as Scott’s second.”

“How come?” asked Stiles, again causing slight hesitation from Zack as he glanced over to the two wolves.

“Incase what happened with Aunt Laura and Dad happened to Chris and me.” A loud growl rang through the backyard from Derek. But Stiles needed clarification – he blamed the influx of information overpowering his brain as to why he didn’t seem to be picking things up.

“What do you mean?”

“…..Dad was never trained to be Alpha when he was younger. It all focused on Laura so when he became Alpha he didn’t know what to do. If Chris died it would pass to me and you didn’t want to take the chance that history would repeat itself.” The timber of the growls increased, Derek’s heckles raised until Chris decided to calm him down by licking him. Even then, it still continued.

“We seriously planned for my son’s death?” Stiles asked with a wavering voice, feeling already like a shitty parent.

“Not just that. You didn’t want him to go through it alone. Was just unfortunate that I’m better at him then everything he has ever done in life. Seriously, I would make the better alpha but that’s what you get for placing your faith in somebody who once ate a toy soilder and had to go to hospital.”

Chris answered by getting up, walking over to Zack, peeing on his leg then settling back down beside his Dad. Stiles never thought a wolf could look smug but yet again he was proven wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

Stiles opened the door to his flat and held it open as the warring siblings pushed each other through the door. Zack had reacted to Chris’ response just as one expected. Not at all well. So Stiles and Derek had to put up with Zack trying to rub his ‘contaminated’ leg on Chris for the whole car journey. Stiles had seriously felt like a parent as he tried to calm down the fight, which had now spilt over to hair pulling and gymnastic attempts of kicking the other in the face.

It was only when Derek told the two of them to “seriously pack it in before I pull this car over” that they stopped and settled down (Stiles would like to add that was the only thing Derek had said since he transformed back to human).

He couldn’t help but feel sad when he saw the look of disapproval from the boys when they looked around the apartment. Yeah ok it wasn’t amazing but it was decent enough. Even Derek sensed the change of tone as he came to stand by the side of Stiles with his arms crossed, glare firmly in place.

“Something the matter?” he asked, voice sterner then he would normally use. It was almost like he was offended on Stiles behalf.

The boys looked at each other “Its ok…” answered Zack

“It’s not home. It’s not right. It looks and smells of just Pop and it should be of DadandPops.” Chris shrugged as he matched Derek’s stance. Derek seemed to be having a face-off with his eldest son before he broke the dead lock.

“Tough. We move at our pace, not yours. We won’t be forced into anything because you decide so. Call if you need anything.” And with that, Derek left. Stiles noticed that Derek referred to it as ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ and it felt…..weird. But a good weird. Like they were a team. As he looked to the boys, he supposed they were.

Stiles sighed “Sorry about him. That’s just what he does.”

Zack shrugged “We are used to it. Its only when he is a wolf does he relax. Instinct and all that. Doesn’t help he and Chris are normally at logger-heads all the time.”

“Too similar?” Stiles suggested. He was met with an enthusiastic nod from Zack and a roll of the eyes from Chris. Deciding to stop a bickering before it began, Stiles showed them the spare room before leaving them to fight it out between themselves over who got the spare bed and who got the floor.

He flung himself down on the couch as he listened to the creative insults which flew from his spare room, listened to the loud crash followed by a smash then listened as they both yelled they didn’t do it and the other one did.

He just sat there and stared into space as the apartment quietened down. He wasn’t aware of the silence that filled each room or the gentle snores. It wasn’t even that he was sat there thinking, more that he was trying to process what the hell just happened over the space of a few hours.

He was jolted out his thoughts by a cup of hot chocolate being placed in front of him and the jostle of the couch as Zack settled beside him. The boy was pressed up close to him and with anyone else Stiles would feel uncomfortable with the proximity but, for some reason, he wasn’t with Zack.

Taking a sip of his drink, Stiles couldn’t hold in the gluttonous groan “Shit man, that’s good….”

Zack chuckled “Yeah, took you years apparently to perfect the recipe but once you got it you got it good. Growing up, it was like every problem could be solved by your choco drink”

Stiles drank a few more sips before turning to his son “So are we close? I mean it seems like Derek and Chris are…you’re not left out are you?”

Zack shook his head “Na, not left out. I don’t know, we are close but it’s kinda always been you and me as a team. Chris loves the wolf side of himself and him and Dad get on like that but I….I don’t know, when I was younger I didn’t want you to feel left out so I stayed back with you. Anyway I like hanging out with you. Yes you’re a dork and you live to embarrass me every single moment you can but we hang out.”

Stiles spluttered “I…..I embarrass you? What about Derek?! I am not the embarrassing one!”

Zack glared at his Pops “You told me when I was 13 that you live to embarrass me. It gives you strength to wake up in the morning to think of different ways to do it and you have nothing else to live for in life apart from that.”

Stiles may have sulked at that for a while. But at the same time, coming up with more plans to ruin his spawns life.

“Do you want to hear about the pack?” Zack asked, drawing Stiles from his plans which may or may not have involved a very detailed description of the last time he got laid just to see the kids’ faces. Zack continued when Stiles nodded “We are bigger now. Stable. Scott is still in charge then there is Dad and Chris. Liam and Malia are still pack. Both are settled with their own families but we are still close to them. Lydia and Jackson don’t live too far away from us. Neither wanted children so they don’t have any but Dad and Jackson get on well and you and Lydia obviously are close. Chris Argent still lives in Beacon Hills and we have a few more members that you haven’t met yet. You will be pleased to know that eventually, things do settle down.”

Stiles nodded in relief, knowing that in the end everyone will be ok.

Stiles turned to Zack “So why are you here? I must have said something else about the reason for all this…”

The other man tilted his head to the side as he thought “Yeah. I mean we were here for the initial reason but you always said it was more. The spell is to help but it isn’t specific. When we found out what was going to happen, we talked about it a lot. Came up with our own theory.”

“Go on” Stiles prompted.

“We think it’s to do with Dad. Just little things he has said over the years. We think he is close to giving up. That he is tired of fighting. Maybe us being here and showing him it gets better is what he needs to pick himself up. To realise he isn’t alone and he won’t always be alone because let’s face it, right now he is.”

“No he isn’t…..” Stiles argued only to be interrupted by a glare worthy of the Hale name.

“Yes he is. Family is everything to Dad. We are everything to him and he doesn’t have that now. Pops, when the whole issue about Chris and the Alpha-ness was going on Dad was going to leave the pack. Pick up and move us away. Only reason he didn’t was because he didn’t want to take you away from Granpops. He stood against his Alpha – which is hard as it is – to protect us. He was able to do that because he had you. You went against Scott and Lydia as well but at the moment, you would go against Dad for Scott. He is alone and it’s hard to watch…..” Zack stopped suddenly, eyes focused on his own hands before he continued in a low voice “I don’t like thinking about him being alone. I don’t like knowing you and him aren’t the parents we have. I’m worried for him even though I know that it won’t always be like this. He is the strong one of the family and he isn’t strong here.”

Stiles could see the pain written across Zack’s face and in part, his own stomach twisted at the thought of Derek alone. Sure they weren’t exactly at the stage of marriage or anything close but he didn’t want the older wolf to feel like he had nothing.

Taking his son into a hug, Stiles whispered “Leave it with me. We will do what we need to do.”

 

+++

 

 

Stiles learnt the following day that the boys had inherited the Stilinski gene of not being a morning person. It took three attempts to pull both of them out the bed, a magnitude of threats and a horn to finally get Chris to just move his foot but eventually they got there. Conversation was stilted around the table – a series of grunts in between the chomping of food and slurping of coffee. It was after two cups where a proper sentence was uttered.

“Yo Pops, you never told us why you decided on accountancy” Chris stated as Stiles battled his daily fight with his tie.

Yes that was correct. Stiles Stilinski was an accountant.

Giving a one-shoulder shrug Stiles answered “Numbers are easy. The answer is either right or wrong. There is no interpretation and if the number is wrong you find out where it went wrong. With everything that’s gone on I like the stability. That something in my life isn’t up for interpretation. It’s a process with no variables….unlike my life. I know what’s coming up, what the answer should be and how to get there. I take it that I have no plans for a career change in the future?”

Zack snorted around his coffee which he lovingly cradled in his hands “Nope. You’re a dork through and through.”

A thought occurred to Stiles “What does Derek do?”

Chris answered as he seemed to be slightly more awake then his brother “Stay at home Dad while we grew up then he went into construction. You said he likes the physical part of it but you are looking for something else so people don’t cotton on that Dad isn’t showing the normal signs for his age. He suggested an office job, you suggested prostitution. He made you sleep at Scott’s that night.”

Zack snorted at the memory “Ah such a good night. He let us snooze in the front room as wolves. Pretty sure he ate your trainers as punishment too.”

Stiles stared at the boys, fight with the tie over for now “You guys are really selling this future to me”

“Don’t need to sell it Pops, its destiny”


	5. Chapter 5

Usually when Stiles finished work, he came home to a quiet apartment. Now that the gang had hit what was deemed as adult-hood, each had taken their own separate way of maturing. Scott was working towards establishing himself with Deaton at the vet’s practice and had recently taken the steps to move in with Kira. Secretly Stiles was ecstatic for his friend that his relationship was apparently ‘the one’. Jackson had just recently relocated back to America. Stiles couldn’t say he was as thrilled with this development but had to admit that the other man seemed to have grown up over the past few years. Lydia told him the man was even contemplating trying to find his birth parents. Even with that, Jackson had grown closer to his adoptive parents after finally realising just how hard he had made things for them – how even without a biological connection they still loved him. Liam and Malia had both decided to try the local collage – Liam because he wanted to be closer to Scott and Malia because she needed the pack as an anchor.

Stiles couldn’t help but sometimes stare at his former flame in awe. After things had calmed down in Beacon Hills, Malia had decided to try to get help after realising that maybe she hadn’t come out of her ordeal completely ok. Stiles had argued that people often forgot what she had been through, what she was still going through as she tried to play catch-up with the past 8 years. Looking back yes they didn’t start out in the best way but the feelings had been real and pure. However just like other people their age going through trauma, issues and personal development drew them apart. As a result, Malia and Derek grew closer while Stiles began to explore more. While Stiles was the spazzy mess he always was, he had grown into himself more.

He was happy. Something which he hadn’t been for a long time.

For so long he had been haunted by so many different things: his mom, the nogitsune, Allison - but after a while and a lot of long-distance calls with his dad he finally became at peace with everything. He would never forget, he wouldn’t let himself do so, but he was settled. He was a survivor and that was worth something. HE was worth something.

One of the side effects to this inner piece was a new found comfort in being by himself. When he was younger he could barely spend a moment by himself, always with Scott but that was then. One of the things he looked forward to was coming home to his inner sanctum and relaxing in quietness.

Which was why he was slightly annoyed when it sounded like somebody had set loose a flock of geese in his apartment (he would know, it was one of his epic collage pranks on his roommate). In actuality it was the sound of three grown wolves using his apartment as a play park.

Yes Stiles was happy that the three were bonding but did it really have to be at HIS place??

He was only given a few moments before he was knocked back by a mass of different fur and snouts. Trying to regain his balance as two of the wolves tried their best to gain his attention he was startled by a wet stripe being licked across his cheek. Looking towards the culprit he saw the back end of a large, black wolf disappearing into the kitchen.

He didn’t have much time to comprehend what happened as the weight of the two wolves suddenly became a lot heavier: The fur transforming into flesh.

“Christ, could you guys not have waited?! So many things I wish I never to see again.” Stiles complained as the two boys stood up, seemingly not ashamed of their current state of undress. Well at least Chris tried to cover himself up. Zack however….

“C’mon Pops. You are going to see a lot more of us like this in the future!!”

Chris snorted at his younger sibling as he moved to change into his clothes “You aren’t this big of a prude in the future.”

Stiles scoffed as he hid his eyes behind his hand “It hasn’t happened yet, I can be whatever I want to be!” He only removed his hand when he heard enough ruffling of clothes to indicate certain….bits were covered up.

Raising himself to his feet, he noted the boy’s sartorial choices “Isn’t that my hoodie?”

Chris looked down at the item of clothing, suddenly becoming defensive over it “So? It’s cold.”

Stiles rose a brow in questioning “You don’t feel the cold.”

“Point being?”

“Why do you have it?”

“God Pops! Just leave it!”

Derek re-entered the room as Chris stormed past Stiles, slamming the door as he left the apartment and leaving an awkward silence in his wake. The remaining three glanced at each other before Derek broke the silence.

“….Well?” He asked, gaze firmly fixed on Zack who sheepishly shrugged his shoulders.

“Time of the month??”

Stiles snorted, glad for the bit of humor to lighten the mood as a heavy weight settled in his stomach.

Derek however remained as stoic as usual “Explain.”

Zack seemed to buckle under the weight of the elder were’s gaze “All right, stop with the eyebrow game. Chris is struggling with…..well all this. He likes structure because he is a dweeb like that, he likes stability. Man, his life was hell at sch…..never mind. Anyway he is having issues with the fact that you two look like our parents but you aren’t.”

Stiles glanced at Derek, seeing a mirroring confused expression “But why the thing with the hoodie?”

At this, Zack started to fiddle with the sleeve of his jacket. A jacket which looked suspiciously like the leather jacket which belonged to Derek. Actually more like an older version of the jacket Derek was currently wearing.

“You know how I said you and Chris were close?” Stiles nodded “Yeah well, it wasn’t always like that. Things happened but anyway, after that you two did this thing of sharing clothes. Well no, not sharing. You would give him hand-me downs so he could always smell you. You said it was like a tangible way for Chris keeping his anchor. The hoodie is close to the first thing you gave him and he is quite…..possessive over it. No joke, one day I borrowed it - I swear I only had it on for a few minutes - but Chris pushed me down the stairs half an hour later.”

At Stiles’ horrified look, Zack clarified “Oh trust me that is so not one of the worst things we have done to each other. Wolf healing means we can rough house to the extreme.”

He didn’t like the smug look his youngest had on his face.

“Laura once pushed me in front of Peter’s then-girlfriend’s car because she didn’t like her. Thought she was going to have a heart attack. Still don’t know how he and Mom convinced her that she hadn’t mortally wounded me.”

While Stiles stared at Derek in shock, Zack seemed to become oddly fascinated with this new side of his Dad. He also decided that this needed to become a game of one-up manship.

“I pushed Chris off the roof of the house and he broke his leg in three places. Pop forgot he could heal and took him into hospital. Melissa said he was crying because he had damaged his darling son. He also apparently forgot that he had another son and kept saying you would divorce him if he took away your only joy in life. You took me out for a McDonalds after and apologised for – and I quote – “My moronic husband””

“We locked Cora in a kennel when she was five”

“Chris tied me to the tree house, forgot I was there and left to get dinner”

“I got stuck in a tree chancing a squirrel on my first full moon.”

“Yeah well Chris and I tried to get the family to watch a personal film you and Pops made. A very personal video if you get my drift. I swear down, you actually threw the TV out the window at the first moan…..”

“OK! I THINK I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH” Stiles yelled while throwing a panicked look at a smirking Derek. “Zack, think you could go and find your brother? At the end of the day he is a young guy walking around town with no money or ID. Anything could happen.”

He waited for the door to shut before he sighed as he flopped down on the couch “Argh my son hates me.”

He felt the couch dip next to him, the warmth of another body close to his side “No he doesn’t.”

Stiles sighed as he put his head in his hands “He did. He did hate me and that just…..God I’m such a shitty dad.”

Silence was his answer as Derek continued to sit beside him. Stiles was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn’t hear Derek.

“If I can be an ok parent, you can bet you’re a fantastic one in comparison.” Stiles glanced at the other man, surprised by the earnest gaze he was receiving.

“D…Did…….oh my god did you just complement me?!” He received an eye roll and a small smile in response.

It took a few hours for Zack and Chris to return and somewhere in between the confession and their return, Stiles hand had gravitated towards Derek’s - who clasped it with his own and squeezed it in return.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes a closer look at Dereks view point, rather then focusing on Stiles. Thanks for the feedback and kudos xx

It was decided that after the blow out between Chris and Stiles, the foursome would split up. Derek and Chris went one way and Stiles and Zack went another. Currently, Chris and Derek were sat on the hillside overlooking the preserve and Beacon Hills. It was mostly stunted conversation. Derek didn’t have to stretch his mind to figure out who Chris inherited that characteristic from, but is wasn’t uncomfortable. In fact it was nice to share this with somebody.

He waited for his eldest son to settle and become comfortable before he broached the topic at hand “Stiles thinks you hate him.”

Derek couldn’t hold back his sympathy when he saw Chris wince at the sentence. He propped his hands on his knees, keeping his gaze away from his Dad.

“I don’t. I never did. But yes, for a while things weren’t good.”

Derek nodded in acknowledgement, patiently waiting for Chris to continue.

“I love Pops. I really do. But when we were younger it was…..Dad I don’t know. He was different with Zack then with me.”

Derek inhaled sharply, feeling like his loyalty was torn. He know logically that he should be defending Stiles but his heart was going in the opposite direction. It surprised him that he felt like taking the side of a child he barely knew over someone he had known and slowly trusted over a number of years.

“How?” Derek asked.

“Just…..Never let me do anything. Felt like any time I did something wrong he came down on me like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t go out without a pack member, couldn’t play with my friends or go out without someone there. I mean, Zack got to go on his first sleepover before I did and he is younger than me!!! For a while I didn’t like him. It was so unfair Dad. All I did was school, homework, train and sleep”

Derek tried to keep his calm as he felt the hurt radiating off his son. Hurt and Anguish.

“Chris?” Derek asked, grabbing his son’s attention “What happened?”

The man paused, fiddling with the hem of his, _Stiles’_ , hoodie “Just after Zack was born a group of hunters moved into the town. One day you stayed at home with Zack and Pops took me to the park. Somehow the hunters got the slip on Pops and got hold of me. Took me away and left the state. I was with them for a few months before Argent managed to track them down. I don’t…..I don’t remember much about it. Deaton says I have repressed the memories but I remember you. I remember the night you got me. You came into my room – all wolfed out and covered in blood – and you ran up to me and just held me. Didn’t let me go until we got back home.”

“And he changed since then?” Derek asked as his stomach twisted at the thought of failing as a parent.

Chris nodded “Yeah. Aunt Cora said you went psychotic when you found out. You didn’t place the blame on Pops but you made him stay at home with Zack while you, Grandpops and Argent tried to find me. But I don’t think he ever got over it. He and Scott didn’t talk for months over it.”

Derek raised a brow at his child as Chris chuckled “Yeah hard to believe but it happened. Pops had told Scott to get rid of the hunters for ages but Scott didn’t want to do anything until the hunters proved they couldn’t be trusted. When they proved Pop right, he blew up at Scott. Still wouldn’t forgive him even when we came back.”

“And you don’t remember anything?”

Chris shook his head “No and I don’t want to. Wouldn’t do any good, you killed them all.”

“And you can’t understand why Stiles would be over protective because of that?”

“….I did. But it was taken too far. The resentment built up over time and just erupted.”

“How?”

Chris hesitated “I ran away when I was 13. Pops thought I had been taken again. He had built up his magic since I was taken and couldn’t control himself when he thought it was happening all over again. He nearly burnt the house down. Anyway, I had hidden out in Melissa’s basement, was found and taken home. You and Pops had a massive argument after. You both thought we couldn’t hear but I heard everything.”

Derek scoffed a little “Would have thought we would argue all the time….”

“No” Chris interrupted “You bicker. You always bicker but you never argue. Well if you did it was normally kept away from us.”

“So why did we argue this time?”

“Dad - you blamed him. You said this was his fault.”

Derek felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Not only was he a failure of a parent but also a failure of a husband. A future failure.

He was drawn out of his self-pitying by a gentle nudge “Don’t do that. You were right, even Grandpop and Melissa were on your side. You told him he was to blame, he had pushed too far and this was the result. I left because of him and I could have been taken and this time it was all on him. You were harsh but he needed it. Even Pops admitted it when he came around. You told him to leave until he sorted himself out.”

Derek was stunned “I……I told Stiles to leave?”

“Yeah Dad. You said he couldn’t come back until he sorted himself out. You could tell things were getting too much and you said you wouldn’t stand by and wait for the next time I ran away. You wouldn’t wait for the next time for Pops to lose control and burn the house down. I think that’s what got to him in the end, the danger he was putting us all in.”

“But Stiles is practicing now, he has control….” Derek weakly tried to defend his potential future husband.

“He does. But after…well after that he took it too far. He tried to learn as much as he could without taking the time to learn control. What he is learning now is a mixture of offensive and defensive stuff. At that point it was all offensive and that takes more control, it should take longer to learn but Pops didn’t see it that way. He did it all too quick and didn’t have to control he normally does. Hence why you went mental. I remember you yelling at him, and I quote, “I watched one family burn, I won’t watch it again because of your misplaced pride and stupidity.””

To say Derek felt like scum of the earth would be an understatement.

“What happened next?” he whispered, part of him scared to hear the answer.

“It was the kick up the ass Pops needed. He went to live with Grandpops for a few months while we shuttled between the two of you. When he showed he could be better, he came home.”

“Are you not worried that telling me is going to change things? Change what happened when you were younger?”

Chris sighed, running a hand through his hair “No. The side effect of the spell is that you will remember us but not the details. I will get taken and Pops and I will argue. You told me once that people are irrational when it comes to their children so I don’t expect things to change.”

Derek was silent before he snorted “Would have thought it would be the other way around. Stiles kicking me out.”

He jumped a little at the piercing sound of Chris’s loud laughter “Don’t kid yourself old man, you nearly were quite a few times”

Derek settled down a bit. If he were honest with himself, it shook him a little that he seemed to be the good guy while Stiles was the bad one. It was always the other way around and since this whole situation began, he hadn’t expected anything different.

“Seriously Dad, are you kidding?! Apparently you wouldn’t let Pops leave the house with either me or Zack when we were born!! Kira loves telling the different stories where someone had to distract you as Pops was trying to sneak the stroller out the house without you knowing. He is adamant he is part ninja because he can be stealthy with a toddler in a pram and a newborn strapped to his chest.”

Derek gave a silent sigh of relief……that’s more like it.


	7. Chapter 7

A few days later, the boys decided that they _needed_ to spend some time with John and that Stiles and Derek _needed_ to spend some time together. Funny enough, Stiles and Derek didn’t seem to have a choice on this. Stiles very quickly cursed his future self about the wise decision to have two children. One to tackle, bully and blackmail each parent. The end result was him and Derek sitting in a fancy restaurant, both suited and booted as Derek poked his moussaka with a fork and Stiles tried to figure out what he had actually ordered.

“Barely any meat” Derek muttered as Stiles settled on it being an eggplant dish. Conversation had been stilted between the two the whole night and didn’t look to be improving. Stiles sighed in disappointment. From what Zack had told him, he and Derek were amazing. But sat at this table - watching as Derek looked at a slice of aubergine like it had spat at him - he just couldn’t see how they could ever get to that level of commitment.

He was brought out of his musings when Derek abruptly stood, threw down some money on the table and started to walk out the restaurant. He stopped to face Stiles, gestured to the door with his head and walked out the door.

Stiles was glad he only tripped once as he stumbled out the building and into the car where Derek was waiting.

He paused until Derek was driving before he turned to face the man “I was enjoying that.”

“No you weren’t.”

“……ok no I wasn’t. But I still wanted to finish it….”

“No you didn’t”

“OK! It was awful. It might have been rabbit for all I know!”

Derek snorted “It wasn’t us.”

Stiles blinked “…..come again?”

Derek gave a quick side-eye to the other man before focusing on the road again “It was bad because it wasn’t us.”

“You mean that fancy, posh place where a glass of water costs $100 is not the place for us?? NEVER!”

Stiles knew Derek was not amused. Derek knew Stiles knew Derek was not amused but Stiles couldn’t help himself as he began to talk in a faux-British accent. Just as he was placing his fake monocle back on his face, they pulled into the drive-thru. As quick as anything, Derek had ordered for the two of them, collected the food and they were on their way again. What can Stiles say? He was really into pretending to have tea with the queen.

He started to question Derek’s romanticism when they pulled into a car park which had a direct view of the main high street.

“Eh?” was Stiles highly literate questioning of the situation.

Derek sighed as he pulled out the food “People watching. Shut up and eat.” It was hard to see the ardor in how Derek threw the food at Stiles before he tucked into his burger.

Nudging Derek, Stiles pointed to a guy dressed like an A&F model “What do you think his story is?”

Derek tilted his head for a second “Up himself jock. Over compensating. Was probably chubby as a child.”

Stiles may have snorted his coke out his nose, the epitome of sexy “Modelling himself after his life-long role model….”

“Jackson?”

Stiles paused in his observation “Bet you were a jock….”

Derek gave a small smile “Once I hit 13. Total nerd before that.”

Some food may or may not have dropped out of Stiles open mouth “You?! A nerd?!”

Derek looked semi-offended “Wolves aren’t just born into amazing bodies. I was small as a child, had braces and everything…..” His semi-offended look turned into a full out offended look at Stiles’ raucous laughter.

“Ah man, I would have loved to have seen you in braces….”

“I had acne as well if you want to laugh at that too. May be supernatural but still have to go through puberty like everyone else” Stiles did laugh. He really did.

Derek fully turned to face the human “At least I grew out of it. You’re still a spaz.”

Stiles settled himself down “So did you enjoy school? Your basketball trophies are still in the cabinet.” Stiles had heard of Derek Hale well before he returned after Scott was bitten. He was somewhat of an urban legend at the exclusively lacrosse Beacon Hills High. The man who once made the Basketball team more successful than lacrosse.

Derek shrugged, seeming to be more interested in his food “High school yeah. Not so much before….”

“Why?”

“Children are mean. Especially to an acne riddled, brace wearing recluse who lived in the haunted forest with his big family.”

Stiles tried to keep the look of sympathy off his face, knowing he failed “You were bullied?” Wh….I mean how?”

Stiles could see Derek sink lower into his seat, like he was ashamed.

“Yeah” he answered “I couldn’t hit the other kids back because I would probably have punched them through the wall so I…well I had to take it. Just because I’m powerful doesn’t mean their words didn’t hurt. Anyway that changed when I tried out for the team.”

Stiles sat back, kind of touched by Derek opening up to him.

He felt like he had to share in return and, to be honest, he didn’t really mind “I still worry about Dad. I mean I know he is a grown up, he has survived without me but still…I worry. I mean I stay awake some nights just thinking about things which could happen to him. Then I sit and think what I would do if something _did_ happen. And I honestly don’t know. I really don’t know what I would ever do without him. Then I worry if something happened to me. What would he do? At least I know now that he still has a long time left with us. But then I worry that I’m going to do something which I shouldn’t do and that I’ll change everything. That this amazing future we have is going to be lost because I….I dunno, killed a butterfly or something.”

Stiles then realised that Derek had not only patiently listened to him rambling (not many people did), but had put his hand on his thigh and was softly stroking his inner thigh with his thumb. Stiles sighed after his ramble and rested his head on the car seat.

“We all have that worry but if we can survive what we have done to this point, we can survive anything.”

Derek gave him a soft smile which Stiles returned.

Then the younger one ruined the moment.

“The loft free for a few hours yeah? I’m horny”

However he must have done something right as no more than a few seconds later, Derek had turned the car engine on.

+++

Stiles likes to think he is a realist in life. He see’s situations, analyses them and thinks of different ways that things can go wrong. From there, he can plan ahead for potential problems and thus would never be caught out.

He had done the same thing when he and Derek had decided to hook up.

He compiled a colour-coded list of things which could go wrong: categories ranging from mild embarrassment to total life mortification. However Stiles forgot to add the possibility that his children from the future would walk in on him and Derek (thankfully for all involved, they were just basking in the afterglow). If that wasn’t bad enough, the cheering and fist-bumping from the boys just added to the eternal indignity.

He only felt slightly smug when the realisation came that the boys were, essentially, celebrating the fact that their parents had sex. Queue a series of groans, shoves and a murmur of ‘just like being back at home. House always smells of sex’. Glancing to his bed-mate, he saw a smug look on the other man’s face – apparently glad to hear that even with kids they still had an active sex life.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had a brain wave with this fic = excessive writing = wave of chapter updated in one day

The pack couldn’t be held back any longer. Stiles had done the best he could to state their curiosity but they could only be subdued for so long. As such, everyone was now gathered at the Stilinski house.

Originally the meeting had been called at the loft but – surprisingly - John was adamant that it was to be at his house. John said he wanted it to be there so he, Chris and Melissa could keep an eye on things but secretly Stiles thinks his Dad wanted to be around in case the questioning got too intense. He saw his point as the boys were bombarded with questions…

“Do things settle down?”

“Do I win my field medal?”

“Does Peter die and stay dead?”

Questing after questions were asked with no chance for either boy to answer. Stiles didn’t have to look to see that Derek was starting to become annoyed, powered by the duel looks of confusion which ghosted the faces which were a mixture of the two of them. It wasn’t until a voice cleared the symphony of questions, spoken quietly but heard above all, did the questions finally cease.

“Are we…..are we happy?” asked Liam, a hopeful tint to his voice.

Chris and Zack shared a look before the elder brother shrugged his shoulder “They won’t remember it anyway”

Zack nodded to himself before he turned to face Liam “Yeah. Everyone is settled. I mean, it isn’t a bed of roses all the time but yeah we are happy. Things do settle down, you don’t win a field medal and yes, Peter does stay dead this time.”

Stiles saw Lydia’s face drop at the confirmation of her failure but was interrupted by Zack “Don’t worry Lyd’s, you get something much better”

Hope brightened her face as he saw her softly ask “Jackson?”

She received a bright smile in return. Jackson had tentatively arrived back in Beacon Hills a few weeks ago but, as to be expected, things between him and Lydia had been strained. Neither quite knowing where they stood. But as her smile grew at the realization Jackson and her had potential, Stiles noticed Jordan’s dim somewhat. Stiles wasn’t the only one to notice.

“Jordan, have you met our Aunt Cora yet? I think you two would get on really well…” Chris asked, to the delight of Stiles and the chagrin of Derek. Seems like his….. _his?!_....wolf didn’t like the thought of his eldest son semi-pimping out his sister.

Zack snorted at the daggers Derek was now giving Parish “Dad, you brag all the time that you have a phoenix in the family so zip it.” Derek simply rolled his eyes as he sank further into the couch, only calming when Stiles placed a hand on his knee and squeezed.

Scott decided that this was the time to get serious “So why are you here?”

Chris rolled his eyes “To protect and help the pack, you all know this!”

Scott gave the boys a look of distrust “But you haven’t been helping the pack. You have been ‘helping’ Derek and Stiles.”

Stiles didn’t appreciate the blatant air-quotes around helping but he was interrupted before he could say anything.

“Scott, let them explain.” John stated from the other side of the room, seemingly as unimpressed as Stiles with Scotts distrust of the kids. Doesn’t take a genius to see where his overprotective instincts come from.

“You once explained it to me - when I was younger - that the pack is like a body. Kira, Liam, Jordan, Chris, Malia, Jackson and Isaac are like limbs. Lydia is the brain, you are the strength, the parents are the lungs and Dad and Pops are the heart…..”

Zack interrupted his brother “No Dad and Pops? No pack. Simple as.”

Chris turned to face Derek “When everything happened, the pack splintered because the heart wasn’t there anymore. The core of the pack was gone and it left everyone weak. The reason things calm down is because the Beacon Hills pack are known as a formidable fighting unit. They cannot be beat and that reputation in itself stops anyone attacking.”

Malia interjected “So then if you guys are here, that means the pack has the potential to become weak. I mean, if you guys were just here to save us you would be gone by now so,because you are still here, there is that there is a chance for weakness. From the ‘heart’.”

Stiles had to give it to Malia, she was a lot of things but not stupid. Never stupid.

Lydia nodded “if whatever happened in the future lead to a break in the pack, the same must be about to happen…” she eyed Stiles and Derek as she spoke.

“Or somebody is about to give up….” Kira whispered.

Glancing around the room, Stiles noticed every person was looking in his general direction. He held up his hands in defense

“Hey now, no not me! Totally still on board with the whole fighting-for-my-life thing. I have accepted that my life is a mixture of Buffy and Charmed and I own and accept it!”

He heard a sharp inhale. “Dad?” Chris asked, voice a mixture of concern and disbelief. Stiles didn’t even have time to look at the other wolf - the other part of the heart - before the man in question stood up and left the house without a spoken word, leaving a silent pack behind him. Nobody noticed a figure leave through the back door.

 

+++

 

Derek realised that he had become too predictable when he heard footsteps enter his sanctuary at the site of the old hale house. The foundations may have been destroyed but the underground levels were still accessible. A tunnel full of different chambers and rooms, each with its own story to tell. Before everything happened the rooms were used for the younger members of the Hale pack. Those who struggled with control. Closing his eyes, he could remember how each room had been decorated to provide comfort during those long nights. Comfort which had been lost and degraded over time.

The room he was in was the one which housed his parents. Even though she was pack alpha, Talia was adamant that she would stay with her children when the time came for them to spend a night in the underground labyrinth – giving them ease by just talking to them as the howled and tore the place apart.

The footsteps stopped a couple of rooms down from his and he heard a groan as his visitor sat themselves down on the floor. The room which used to belong to Laura but had since been turned into a torture chamber by Kate and her minions.

A male voice broke through the dank atmosphere, ringing loud and clear through the tunnel even though the words were spoken softly.

“When I lost Victoria, it felt like part of me had gone with her. When I lost Allison, I wanted to die. Some days I wake up and I still want to. I miss her……..I never thought…I wanted to keep her away from this. From the day she was 5 and cried for a week because I couldn’t heal a baby bird she found abandoned, I knew she couldn’t do this. She was good, pure and I couldn’t darken her by making her…become what I am, what Kate and Gerard was.”Derek listened as Chris sighed. “Sometimes I think this is my punishment. I let _her_ take away everything from you so now is my time to pay. She had to die to right some wrong. Other days I just….”

“She didn’t die because of this. Allison died doing what was right. Be proud of her for that.” Derek stated, believing every word he spoke “Those who are to blame have paid the price as well as those who are innocent…” Derek stopped, remembering those who lost their lives in a fight which began before they had even taken their first step into adolescence. Boyd, Erica, Allison, Laura.

Chris paused, gathering his thoughts “I understand why you want to give up. Out of everyone here, I really do. The rest, they could never understand what it’s like…”

“Grief is grief. Be it mourning for one or for 10, it’s not too dissimilar.”

Chris gave a somber chuckle “But it’s not. Not when you lose people to a fight you never wanted to be a part of.”

A bubble of anger rose up in Derek “You were a part of it. You were part of the fight!”

“No Derek, not this fight. We had a code and I stuck to it. I never killed an innocent.”

Derek snorted “You are no better than them.”

A heartbroken sigh filled the chamber “And I paid the price with my daughter’s life.” He hesitated “Do you not think that if I could take it all back I would? I would do anything to see her face again. The same way you would to bring back your loss.”

Derek looked down into his lap, at a loss. He felt sympathy for Chris despite not wanting to. It was hard to lose his family, never mind a child. “I….how do you cope? How do you keep fighting?”

Despite his protests, he could see how he and Chris were similar. Both coping with a bone-crunching, breath-stealing sorrow. He knew logically that the fight was not with Chris, had known since the nogitsune. They - despite all that had happened - were allies.

“Because that’s what she would have wanted. To pick up the torch which she passed on. I couldn’t….could never abandon a cause which she died for. The same way you shouldn’t abandon the cause which your family fought for. They fought for pack, for Beacon Hills.”

Derek groaned, resting his head against the damp stonework. “I’m tired of fighting. I’m tired of looking behind my shoulder for the next thing to stab me in the back. I’m not needed here anymore…”

“I believe you are wrong, your spawn has proved it.”

“I don’t want to fight anymore! I want it all to end!” Derek snapped, realising he may have said too much.

“We can’t have what we always want Derek. I didn’t want Allison to be part of this life, I didn’t want to lose my wife to an anarchic code and I didn’t want to believe that my elder sister locked up and murdered an innocent family. But it happens. You don’t ever forget and honestly? You don’t ever learn to live with what’s happened but you learn to cope. I’m still learning but if you can get through it so can I.”

“I’m not fit to be a role-model to anyone….”

“No but you’re fit to be an inspiration. You have done something which most people couldn’t do. You survived and from the looks of it, you will survive and live for a long time. That in itself is worth something.” Chris inhaled “You are not alone Derek. Not anymore. And I’m not talking about Scott or Stiles or any of the others. You are not alone.”

Derek couldn’t help the spark of hope which lit up his chest “What do you propose?”

“A new start. A way to eradicate the bad but celebrate the good. What better way to stick it to the Gerard’s and the Kate’s of the world then by destroying the fight once and for all. The last Argent and the last Hale, fighting for a common cause. Allison and Scott started this, let us be the one to finish it” Chris snickered “A fitting end, don’t you think?”

“Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes” Derek murmured.

“If anything, the two of us have been trying to live up to that motto long before my daughter took ownership. Just with different methods. We work together to get rid of the bad but fight for the belief which your family and my daughter worked for. Fight for their legacy.”

Derek thought it over in his head for a while. “It doesn’t change anything, I’m still tired….”

“You have only had enough because you were alone. Because you were trying to fight the world yourself but it’s different now. You have me and now you know that you have a future to build towards. Those boys in that house are a credit to you, anyone can see that. That is what will give you the fire to carry on. For your past and your future.”

Derek was beginning to see why his future self-named his first born son after an Argent.


	9. Chapter 9

Stiles and the boys decided to stay over at John’s house after Derek left the meeting. The two Stilinski men could see that both of them hadn’t taken the revelation very well so had decided a bit of ol’ fashioned bonding was in order. It mainly consisted of junk food (carrot sticks for John), crappy TV and snarky comments coming from all three generations. This delved into a game of twenty questions when the novelty of copious snacks backfired and none of them were able to get up and change the channel.

Stiles learnt that his father… _the sheriff_ …was arrested in his youth and detained over night for disturbance of the peace (“Total exaggeration, I just kicked Mrs Garrett’s post box over. Not like I set her car on fire…”), Chris and Zack’s childhood toy was a deformed clown teddy (“I swear down Pops, this thing was hideous! Its arms and legs were made up from different other teddies. It had a paw for an arm and its face…..dude you ever seen Coraline? Button eyes dude. Button. Eyes!! You never said where you got it from - just that it was from a dear friend but that thing went everywhere with us. Apparently Chris locked himself in the bathroom for 5 hours when you tried to convince him he was too old for it. Dad says that it’s the only time you have ever made him cry with laughter. You were convinced he was suicidal and might be driven to drastic measures.”) and they learnt that Stiles once tricked Scott into eating dog food when they were younger (“He still doesn’t know. I won’t feel bad because the man has the taste buds of a moron.”).

At some point they moved onto childhood memories. While the familiar feelings of mourning and grief hit him whenever he remembered the times when his family was whole, those feelings were diluted when he heard the boys talking about theirs. About the life he and Derek provided for them.

Stiles wasn’t stupid: he knew things were strained between him and Chris for whatever reason. He didn’t want to delve on the subject and was quite happy to just live in ignorance. But despite that, he was still proud when he heard how their home was a happy and stable one. They seemed – overall – to support their children and raised them with morals.

He and John listened as Zack tried to explain why, on the anniversary of Derek’s family’s death, it was still one of the highlights of his year.

“It’s morbid. I know, you have all told me a thousand times. But….yeah. We are together and free to do what we want. Yeah it’s a sad time but it’s us. Our family. No pack, just us. We grieve and remember as a family because the loss is ours. It’s…..don’t get me wrong, I love the pack and I couldn’t imagine growing up without them but sometimes it is overwhelming. It’s like I have six or seven parents rather than two. It did feel at times, more so when we were older and even now, they have an input into our family when they shouldn’t.”

Stiles sighed as he lent back into the couch “It’s because they care…”

Chris cleared his throat “What dumbass is trying to say is that for that day, it is just us and to us it means the world. Neither of us resent the pack and neither of us ever wished that they weren’t around but the bond with the pack doesn’t even compare to the bond of our family.”

“Stiles….” John tried to speak but was interrupted by his son.

“So then what’s the problem?”

“…Stiles…”

“It’s not a problem! It’s just that we spend a lot of time with Dad, we spend a lot of time with you but we don’t get to spend more time with you, Dad and us. There is always someone at the house.”

“STILES!” The debate abruptly stopped and everyone turned to face John, questioning looks thrown in his direction “Stiles, you are aware the Hale anniversary is tomorrow?”

Stiles shook his head, turning to face the boys who held their hands up in a defensive mode “Don’t look at us, we don’t even know what month we are in. You weren’t specific on the date dude!” Zack argued.

Stiles groaned as he put his head into his hands. He had totally forgot. Actually, looking back, he doesn’t think he had ever really remembered to begin with. Looking up, he leveled a glance at his Dad.

“How did you remember?”

John fixed him with a look, everyone knows _that_ look. The look that just says _how-is-my-child-this-stupid_. “It’s not easy to forget a case where a family was murdered in your town while you have a child at home who was around the same age as one of the youngest kids….”

“Oh my god granpops, you were there weren’t you?!”

John nodded in confirmation “Every cop was there when the call came in. You boys need to remember that before all this….magical hoodoo started, this town was quiet and peaceful. A fire and death like that hit the community hard and, believe it or not, it touched a lot of people. So many calls came in to offer support to Laura and Derek but before we could do anything they left. I remember seeing the house as the firefighters fought to put the blaze out, I saw Derek and his sister being placed in the car to be taken to the station and I saw them after they were told that their whole family had died. You don’t forget that. You remember everything, including the date.”

Chris stared at Stiles, looking a lot younger than he had ever done before “What does Dad normally do at this time?”

“I…I don’t know. We don’t…I think he spends it at the loft? Or the house? No maybe not the house. Possibly the loft. Aw man, I’m such a shitty friend.”

Zack chuckled as he clasped his hands behind his head “Yeah you’re a shitty friend. But you have a chance to not be a shitty partner….”

He thought it over for a few minutes before he rose, determination set on his face “Your right. I am going to do this. Hale will no longer sulk in a loft with no ventilation and a bad case of damp. I am going to make tomorrow epic even if it kills me!! YEAH!”

Stiles stormed off to make color-coded plans, pointedly ignoring the call of “You do remember it’s a day where his whole family died yeah? It’s not a birthday celebration…”

 

+++

 

Derek hadn’t left his bed the whole day and, quite frankly, had no plans to do otherwise. His chat with Argent had helped him (He would never imagine himself saying that this time last year but, yeah. Things change apparently) and maybe he had found some strength to keep fighting but not today. Never today. He couldn’t care if the apocalypse was occurring, he wasn’t going to fight today.

No today was the yearly day for him to remember and just…..feel. Remember what he had lost, feel the guilt for not being able to stop it and feel the loneliness.

That’s what got to him the most, not having anybody to pull him out his melancholy. Laura had always been the one to do it but since she was gone and Cora had no intention of coming back, he was just left to mourn.

He missed them. He missed everyone and to be honest, he didn’t want to see anybody. The towns people, the pack – not a single person. He really didn’t think he could handle seeing people being happy when it felt like it had been a lifetime since he had felt the same way. Yes, the time spent with Stiles and the boys (together or separate) did lift the dark cloud somewhat but then he would see Stiles and his Dad, or Scott and his Mom and just remember all over again what he had lost.

So to save himself the pain, he just stared out the window from the comfort of his bed. It went the same each year: He would spend the first half of the day just remembering until his mind went blank and he just stopped. Time would dissipate as the light of day left and the darkness crept in. Eventually, Derek would fall asleep, just to wake up the next day to wait for the same time next year.

Well that was his plan today. However between the darkness and the sleep his phone ringing pierced the peaceful veil which clouded his mind.

Derek knew he had to answer. Nobody ever called him unless it was an emergency. Certainty never to check up on him.

“What?!” Derek felt happy with the snippy tone. Whoever was ringing would realise that he wasn’t in the mood today. Apparently that subtlety was lost on Stiles, who started blabbing.

“Oh my god Derek, you need to get down here right n….”

“No”

There was silence on the other end “…..It’s an emergency!”

There was a slightly panicked tone to Stiles voice but Derek stood firm “No. Find somebody else.”

He could hear sounds of frustration coming from the other man and was about to hang up on him when Stiles brought up the one subject that he, despite his best efforts, could not ignore.

“THE BOYS!! Derek it’s the boys……yeah something has happened and I….Derek we need you. Please.”

Derek sighed, knowing he had already lost the battle.

“Where?”

Stiles hesitated for a second “The Hale House.”

Derek really had to bite off a pained groan. The one place he didn’t want to go but he knew he would. For them. All three of them.

He didn’t give a reply as he hung up and headed out the door.

 

+++

 

Dread that he hadn’t felt for so long built up in his gut the closer to the preserve he got. It was only the scenarios that were playing in his head which kept him going – each one getting worse and worse as time passed. He didn’t want to lose the boys before he got to know them, didn’t want to lose Stiles before they could see just how amazing they could be, didn’t want to lose the future he wanted so badly.

His feet seemed to work on their own as Derek became more lost in his own mind so he could be forgiven for not using his senses to scope out what he was about to walk into. He cursed himself for his lack of attention as he broke through the tree line around the parameter of the hale house. He suddenly stopped as he realised what was happening.

His first focus was on Stiles, Zack and Chris who stood directly in front of him. Just behind them stood the whole pack (parents included) and the rest of the clearing was taken up with people Derek recognised from the town. Looking around briefly, he spotted teachers from the school who taught him, Laura and Cora. Local shopkeepers who would give them freebies when they gave their mom the slip. Police and firefighters who were there on that night….so many people who all held a single white candle while wrapped up in puff-jackets and hats.

His attention was drawn when Stiles walked up to him and held out his hand. Without thinking, Derek took the comfort and followed Stiles through the crowd (all of whom gave him encouraging smiles) until they reached the base of the house. While the crumbling walls had been dismantled, the foundations still remained. However in place of where the porch would have been, now sat a plethora of candles, flowers and toys. In the center were framed pictures of his family.

Derek leaned in to further study them, realising that they must have come from sources other than the pack. Pictures of his parents and grandparents in their youth, school shots, newspaper prints…..it was like staring into a rushed history of the family. On closer inspection, there were hand written cards. He didn’t look too much at what was written, the majority of them simply saying ‘We miss you’. He squeezed the hand that was locked with his, a silent thank you. It squeezed back, a its ok reply.

Derek didn’t see the boys join them but felt their bodies crowd against his, encasing him with warmth. As one, they turned to face everyone. Instead of judgment, he was met with a wall of sympathy and compassion. Attention was turned to John who had climbed up on a makeshift stand to address everyone.

Silence greeted his stand as everyone waited.

“Today marks the day that our town was changed. Time may have passed but we will never forget the tragedy that touched on everybody’s lives. The Hale family were deeply loved and as much as they were loved, they are missed even more.” John stuttered as the words seemed to catch in his throat “As much as, a community, we are united in grief we are all united in a sense of failure. Failure to protect one of our own and a failure to help those who survived.”

John turned to fully face Derek.

“We are so sorry we couldn’t do more. We are sorry we couldn’t protect you and Laura. But we never forgot about either of you. We never forgot your family or what happened here. Mostly we are so sorry that such an injustice happened but now we can rest with the fact that the rights have been wronged. So here we stand, in acknowledgement of our failures, in respect to your family and how they touched each of our lives and in respect to you - Derek, a strong man who has made such an impact in the lives of the people you know. People who love you.”

John was drowned out by the chorus of clapping and cheering. A community finally united, putting their daemons behind them. Derek didn’t notice. All he knew was Stiles. The man who was holding him up with his body. His Anchor.

 

+++

 

After the service the four Stilinski-Hale’s did indeed have their camp trip and as Stiles started to fall asleep, covered from head to toe by the bodies of three sleeping wolves, he felt more settled then he had for a long time. Not since his mother passed away.


	10. Chapter 10

Since the service, Stiles and Derek had turned a corner. They still weren’t ‘there’ but Stiles was beginning to see the potential. Yeah they still had sex but it was starting to become something more. Along with that development also came the situation with the boys. They had crawled under his skin and now had firm place next to his Mom and Dad.

Some days he just sat and watched them. Sometimes they were just watching TV, other times they were fighting. They fought a lot.

At least once an hour.

But the more they were here, the harder it was to fathom that they didn’t belong and would eventually leave. Stiles knew that if he was finding it hard, Derek would be worse. Derek told him once that the pack bonds, the family bonds, were formed between the three of them. Stiles stomach always dropped when he thought of the day when the boys would leave. He and Derek had taken such large strides in life and he legitimately worried that the boys leaving may be a step too far: if not for him then for Derek. For the past two weeks all four had stayed in the apartment, every night falling asleep as a group in the living room. It always went the same way, the two boys in between their parents whose hands were clasped together on top of them. They acted… _were_ a family. Both he and Derek had lost that component of their lives before, neither wanted to go through it again.

But there was no point worrying about _if’s, and’s_ or _but’s_. Right here, as he watched Derek try to explain to the boys why they couldn’t just run around the town as wolves to frighten people (“I’m pretty sure we didn’t raise you to be this stupid…”), he was happy. He could get used to this fatherhood malarkey.

 

 

 

So of course it was fitting that it would all go to shit.

 

+++

 

“Witches??”

“Yes Stiles. I would have hoped that you would have got it the first five times I said it. Witches. A band of witches have set up camp in the preserve.”

“I know but….seriously witches?? Why can’t it be something cool!? Its either werewolves, foxes or witches! Is it too much to ask that it is something else - like a vampire. Oh a vampire would be cool! Phft we never get the good stuff…” Stiles was aware that he looked like a toddler having a tantrum but seriously….witches again?!

Scott sighed as he ran his hand through his hair “These are different. I mean their scent. Like Stiles and others that have come here have this scent of, well, magicness but this coven. They, they smell like….”

“Death” Lydia stated.

Stiles leant further into Derek, who had his arm wrapped around his shoulders. The pack were getting used to them touching so there were no more raised brows or questioning glances.

“So why are they here?” Liam asked as he huddled further into Malia. Unlike Derek and Stiles, this wasn’t comfort of a romantic kind but one of a friendly kind. Over time, Liam and Malia had become close: outsiders of a close knit pack. They were more brother and sister then anything, both providing stability for each other.

Zack raised his hand like an eager child “oh oh I know!!” He didn’t get time to answer before Chris shoved him over, using his hand to keep his brothers face pinned to the floor.

Seemingly not bothered by his brother’s plight to cease the motion of eating the carpet with his face, Chris answered Liam “Some magic users, like Pops, have a natural talent for magic. Will and determination play a large part but there has to be something there to work on. Others don’t have that so use different means to create their power. They need a boost so they use potions to help them. A key ingredient is often magical bei….” Chris was halted when Zack, finally managing to wriggle himself from under his brother’s hand, gave him a swift punch in the arm as he sat up. While Chris looked at him with a faux-offended look, Zack shot his brother a dirty scowl.

“Douche, I knew that. This is why I hate you. You always steal the lime light!” A few slaps were traded before they were told to knock it off.

Derek was treated with matching looks of ‘pure innocence’ before Zack picked up where his brother left off. “Wiccans optimal time of power is during the full moon - the same as wolves. To them, wolves are an amazing and powerful ingredient for their potions. If a coven is here smelling of death, they are here to collect for their potions.”

Lydia leant forward “What do they collect?”

“Blood, fangs, claws. You name it, they will use it.”

Scott took charge of the conversation “So they are here to collect things from us, are they dangerous?”

Chris shot a withering (and patented Derek-Hale-Look) at Scott. “Slightly. They will kill the wolf to collect what they need. They are not a peaceful bunch of hippies.”

Kira still had a hopeful look in her eyes “What if we talk to them? I mean, we aren’t a violent pack. I’m sure we can come to an agreem…”

“No. You can’t compromise with a coven like this” Scott tried to argue back but was shot down quickly.

“Derek’s right Scott” Chris Argent stated “People like this don’t care about morals or ethics. They want power and they will do what they need to do to get it. They need to be removed by force otherwise they won’t stop.”

Derek never thought he and Argent would present a united force but, as it had been proven many times, things changed. He rose to take a stand next to the man, arms folded “We are a pack that has a true Alpha, an ex-Alpha, an Alpha in all but power and a beta who has been trained to lead like an alpha. Not taking into account a kitsune, a phoenix, a coyote, a banshee, a past kinama and a human who was able to defeat a nogitsune. We have a lot of strength and they will want it all. Lydia and Stiles are probably the safest in the pack but the rest of us all have targets on our back.”

Malia stood to join Chris and Derek “We need to find them and quick.”

Stiles nodded in agreement “Split into teams. Two to each and once we have figured out where they are, we can plan from there.”

“Scott and Kira, Malia and Liam, Lydia and Jordan, Chris and Zack, Chris and John and me and Stiles. Melissa can you stay here and wait in case something happens? Remember, don’t confront them. When we attack, we attack together.”

Nobody disagreed with the plan, instead quickly making their way out the house in their designated pairs. Derek started to make his way out the door but halted when he realised Stiles wasn’t following. Turning, he saw his apparent other half staring at the boys who were currently exchanging a look. He didn’t know what it stood for but he just knew it was a look. Before he could ask, he was engulfed in a duel hug. Both boys seemed to be clinging to him, inhaling his scent as deeply as they could. Derek could feel a bone-chilling fear settling into his stomach but couldn’t decide why.

The fear grew as he heard a double proclamation of “I love you” before the process was repeated with Stiles. He looked just as confused and scared as Derek felt, the fear growing as they boys again did the same to John. The five of them had a face off before the boys walked out the door but not before giving their parents a shaky smile and telling them to be careful.

The feeling of dread never left.

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

The search had been a dud. Derek couldn’t pick up anything and Stiles had grown frustrated so it was decided that they would return to the apartment and see what everyone else found the next day. To both their surprise, they fell quickly asleep on the couch not long after they returned and had a drink, not waking till mid-noon the next day.

This in itself was strange. Stiles’ suspicions were further triggered when he woke and felt full of energy. After the nogitsune, Stiles had taken the measure of re-learning his body, how he reacted to things and his usual functions so he would be able to tell instantly if something was wrong. He knew what to expect when he got no sleep and also knew how much sleep he normally had. He also knew what he was like if he had too much sleep and knew, after sleeping over 12 hours in one go, he should be dead on his feet. But he wasn’t. Far from it. He felt energetic: like he had downed 3 cans of red bull and was riding the wave of caffeine.

Walking into the kitchen, he glanced around to try and re-trace his steps from the previous night. His gaze kept coming back to the fridge. He made to investigate when running footsteps stopped his progress as he turned to the doorway to find panicked Derek.

“The boys didn’t come home last night.”

Stiles swore to himself, the feeling of unrest he had all night returning with a vengeance. Storming to the fridge, he ripped open the door before removing the OJ which he and Derek had drank when they came back after the failed search. Giving it a sniff, he felt the anger build as he threw the carton into the sink.

“Fucking Gardenia.” Stiles turned to face Derek, who was now pacing the room “Someone spiked our drinks to make us sleep. I don’t…that flower is known as a sleep agent but if powered up it will knock someone out for hours.”

Derek looked up mid-pace “But it’s only been us and the boys in the apartment….” He paused before his face lit up in realisation “Stiles, Zack said he stayed with you while me and Chris trained. He would have learnt that from you.”

Stiles crashed down onto one of the kitchen chairs, placing his head in his hands “Shit. I don’t….I don’t understand. Why?!”

He inhaled deeply before standing, trying to gain Derek’s attention but could see the wolf was too wound up.

He stormed over to the man before roughly grabbing his face in his hands. “Derek listen to me. We don’t have the time for this. Drive us to Dad’s house while I get the pack. I don’t care what they did or why, I will not sit here if there is even a remote chance that they, _our sons_ , are in trouble. You with me?”

Derek nodded in understanding before grabbing his car keys, eyes fully shifted to a luminescent blue. Stiles didn’t even have a go at Derek for breaking every speed limit. If anything, he was telling him to put his foot down more.

 

+++

 

 

Darkness had already set by the time they pulled up to the Stilinski house but Stiles took no notice. He couldn’t hear anything over his own pounding heart beat as he pushed open the door at a running pace. The last time he had felt terror like this was during the nogitsune period but even then he never remembered it being this bad. Luckily for him, all the pack was already here but it didn’t matter as he ran up to his dad, enveloping him in a strong hug as his dad tried to offer comfort.

He heard the distant hum of conversation behind him, the low timber of Derek’s voice explaining what had happened and fielding questions. It was only when the Stilinski hug finished did Stiles take stock of the pack and Derek. The other man looked, well, plain awful. His hair stuck up on end like he had been raking his hands through it and his face had seemed to become more wolf-like as time passed. He could see that the other members of the pack were just as agitated. His eyes widened in shock when he spotted Jackson and Cora sat on the couch next to Lydia and Jordan but didn’t spare the development any time.

“So anything? There must be something to work with…please just anything!?” Stiles begged, walking up to Derek, taking hold of his jacket. He could see the disappointment flare up in Derek’s eyes as he had to shake his head.

Stiles couldn’t help but collapse against the older wolf, letting him carry his weight as despair weighed down on him.

There was stillness until Argent decided enough time had passed “We need a plan…”

Stiles felt the growl Derek gave from his chest as he wrapped his arms around the human “We find them, we kill them.” His eyes hadn’t once returned to their natural green since they had found out the boys hadn’t returned.

Scott rose from his seat next to Kira “How do we know they haven’t just gone back. They said they were here to help, maybe they did what they needed to do…”

John shook his head “No. They would’ve…..they would have said something. And it doesn’t explain why they would put the guys to sleep.”

“Are you sure it was them?” Jordan asked.

Stiles nodded “Yeah. If it was the coven, why put us to sleep? They would have killed us if they could.”

Derek broke away from the embrace and walked into the kitchen. Nobody followed, instinctively knowing that he needed space.

Surprisingly Jackson was the one to take center stage. “Ok let’s think. These guys are here for power. That’s their end game. They have the wolves they need but if you guys are right, they won’t stop there. There has to be something else. Something we are missing. I mean if you were going to pick a wolf to harvest for power, let’s face it it’s going to either be McCall or Hale….”

“What’s your point?!” Stiles demanded, letting his frustration boil over.

“His point is that if these guys are fully focused on power they wouldn’t have taken Chris and Zack. They would have bided their time to take the Alpha but they haven’t.” Argent said, backing up Jackson.

“So why them?” John asked.

A gasp from the couch caught everyone’s attention “Because it isn’t the caliber of the wolf they are interested in…” Lydia began to pale as realisation set in. “They just need a wolf, the power they are planning to gain is coming from somewhere else.”

“The Nameton” Argent confirmed.

As if by divine intervention, a broken howl permeated through the air no more than a few seconds after they had figured out where they boys were being held. It felt like the world stood still in the immediate aftermath, just to be shattered by a wave of chaos.

It took Stiles a while to figure out exactly what had happened but managed to narrow the events down in his mind. Derek had obviously gone psycho after hearing the confirmation his kids were still here, had destroyed the kitchen in his rush to get out the front door and was currently being held back by Jackson, Jordan, Argent and Liam to stop him from doing something stupid and killing himself.

As Stiles withdrew from his head and came back to the real world, a burst of noise seemed to explode out of nothing. Yelling and screaming permeating the air. None were as loud as Derek yelling for everyone to let him go. Scott and Kira were trying to tell Derek they needed a plan, Argent and Jordan were yelling for help and Jackson was just yelling that Derek was fucking strong.

Stiles felt everything build up inside of him, every emotion and every feeling until it all seemed to explode.

“STOP!!”

He isn’t quite sure what happened but he was met with the sight of everyone on the floor or thrown back into their respective seating areas. He could sense everyone’s shocked gazes on him but at that moment he only had interest in one person.

“You back with us?” he asked the fallen wolf. He received a stilted nodded, surprise still evident on Derek’s more human looking face.

Decidedly happy to ignore what he had apparently just done, he turned to Cora “Explain what that was about.”

Cora straightened herself after apparently clinging to Lydia when whatever happened, happened “Wolves have different calls for different reasons. Like how we have different tones in our speech. That was a call from a pup to a parent.”

Stiles nodded, steeling himself for the fight ahead “Then we respond and we respond hard. Derek, you and the wolves go ahead. Everyone else into the jeep.”

Stiles started to make towards the door before a hand gripped him “Dude, you can’t….we can’t go into this unprepared. I mean, you just going to go in there and wipe out the whole coven??” Scott questioned.

Stiles remained stoic in his reply “Yes Scott. I am going in, right now and I will do what I have to. I am NOT sitting around while this happens. We have a reputation as an undefeatable pack? This is where it starts. This point, right here? This is what is going to protect my kids in the future….YOUR daughter. Don’t ask me to stay back because it’s not an option. I am going and if it is just me and Derek then so help us, we will destroy them ourselves.”

“You’re not alone.” Came a stern voice from his side. Turning to look he saw his Dad, Cora, Argent, Malia and Jackson all stood side by side with Derek.

“You fight for family and that’s what we are going to do.” stated Cora, fangs and claws growing with each spoken word.

Walking towards the group, Stiles turned to face the remaining members of the room “You can stay or you can come with us. Those are your choices.”

Every member of the pack left with them.


	12. Chapter 12

Stiles knew the way to the nemeton like the back of his hand, had it memorised since he was 17 years old. Each and every time he thought of the place he was thrown back to that time of despair and fear. But this, this was so much more. This was frantic terror of a different nature. Concern not for himself or even his pack, but for his kids.

His Dad wouldn’t let him drive, instead barreling him into the back with Jordan and Lydia while he and Argent talked tactics in the front. Melissa had opted to take her own car, meeting them at the nemeton once she had gotten supplies from the hospital. He was not naïve: there were going to be injuries but he could guarantee that the coven were going down. As it was, he had zoned out of the conversation. He needed no tactics. He was going in and going to fight with everything he had. He didn’t care if the coven members lived or died and in that respect, he should have been worried. Later on he would recognise that he and the nogitsune, in that moment, were pretty much the same. Hell even a small part of him wished the spirit was back if it would save Derek, Chris and Zack. But he would have plenty of time to worry about these thoughts later.

The jeep finally pulled up to the site of the power of Beacon Hills and, no exaggeration, Stiles likened the scene to Armageddon. Bodies were everywhere, be it down on the floor or fighting. Stiles tried to find the boys but it was too dark to see, too much movement to gain any traction on his vision. He didn’t even think twice about opening the door to join the bedlam.

A strong arm guided him to the boot of the jeep, opening it to display a wide array of weapons which had been stored before they set off. Without hesitation, Argent passed him a gun after checking it was full of ammo before giving him stock to reload.

“The bullets are normal. They will stop a witch but won’t down one of our guys if you accidently hit them. I assume you know how to use one of these yeah?”

Stiles cocked the gun “Kid of a sheriff Chris.”

Chris nodded to himself before handing a gun to John and following Lydia and Jordan into the fight. Lydia had a bat, Jordan had flames. Stiles hoped to god he didn’t hit Derek by accident. He turned to face his Dad, gripping him in a hard hug.

“Do me proud son.” John whispered into his son’s shoulder.

“Back at you old man.” Stiles replied, clapping him on the back before the two broke up: determined to make their own impact on the fight.

It didn’t take long for Stiles to realise the Beacon Hills pack were heavily outnumbered but somehow, momentum was on their side.

The wolves were taking out so many members themselves it was almost like a massacre. It didn’t seem to matter what the witches threw at them, the wolves would just not be stopped. Stiles would, again, wonder about that another time but for now he was making his own dent on the numbers.

Despite his mood in the car, he made sure not to make any fatal hits – knowing Argent and his Dad were doing the same.

To Stiles, the fight almost seemed anti-climactic. It was over in around 15 minutes: members fleeing when they realised that they were not going to win. Stiles could see everyone kicking major ass. Everyone except Derek. He briefly caught the sight of Zack flying through the crowd, taking out everyone in his path with claws and teeth. Stiles subconsciously questioned if he had been raised on Jet Li and Bruce Lee films as he was growing up and for a second, Stiles felt a burst of pride burst throughout his chest.

That was is son!!

There was fire flying everywhere, Jordan using his flames to deflect any potentially harmful spells and conjures. Providing light to the otherwise obscure clearing, he tried to use the spurts of light to find Chris and Derek. When he couldn’t see them, he shouted towards Argent who shook his head. Still Stiles fought.

When he had enough of using a gun, he fought with his fists. Punching everyone he saw, he was happy to say he knocked a few unconscious. Granted he is also 99% sure that he broke his hand but that didn’t matter. He wanted, needed, revenge.

Cora, Malia and Liam were like animals. That’s the only thing he could liken them to. Nothing seemed to stand in their way as they tore people apart. He is pretty sure he couldn’t stop them even if he wanted to. He didn’t want to.

Suddenly a body slammed into him, throwing them both to the ground. He barely had time to register before his gun was ripped out his hands as a figure straddled him. He took in the face of the guy above him as his hands wrapped around his throat, trying to squeeze the life out of him.

Stiles often wondered how he would deal when he faced the real possibility of dying at the hands of someone else. He thought he would be scared. He was pissed.

He didn’t have much time to dwell on the fact before a gunshot vibrated in his head. There was a second where he wondered how the man above had shot him with both his hands around his neck but the look of surprise on his assailants face proved it wasn’t him.

The guy started to fall but was caught and ripped off of Stiles’ body as Argent came into his periphery.

“Cheers dude” Stiles coughed as he tried to raise to his feet. He received a clap on the back before Argent rose his gun level and walked off.

 

 

 

A frustrated scream drew his attention across the clearing in time to see Lydia cause some major damage to a woman’s knee with her bat. He watched as she glared at the woman who was crying on the floor before turning to the wolf who fought beside her. Stiles thinks he saw her say “Jacks, my shoes!” He knows he saw Jackson reply, with a mouth full of fangs “Babe, I will buy you a new pair just for that hit.”

He couldn’t hold in the smirk as he took stock of the situation, watching in awe as his Dad and Argent stood side by side, firing at anyone who dared come close: Each hit connecting with something.

He could sense the fight was coming to a close, but nobody seemed to give Scott and Kira the message. As fierce as Scott was, Kira was even deadlier with her sword. Stiles, not for the first time, was happy they were on his side. Not even that, that they were fighting for him and Derek. He and Scott had been through so much and Stiles couldn’t wait to face the rest of his life with him.

A call of retreat signaled the end. Those who were able to disappeared into the tree line. Breathing a sigh, Stiles knew that not only had they just won the fight but they had created a legacy.

Frantically looking around, he tried to catch sight of one of the faces he needed to see. When he did, he sprinted until he had his arms enclosed around Zack as the boy gripped him just as hard. Stiles could hear a chant in his head. It took a while for him to register that it was coming from him. Apparently in times of crisis and near loss, instead of saying ‘I love you’ and ‘thank god you’re ok’ Stiles deemed it appropriate to tell his youngest son ‘I’m going to fucking kill you’. Over and over again.

Zack chuckled, telling his Pop’s he was ok. Stiles was happy to stay in this little Stilinski-Hale cocoon until a sound permeated through the thick muteness.

The sound of a broken cry.

He didn’t mean to but he ripped himself out of his sons clutches and turned to where the sound came from. To where the nemeton was. He had to squint to identify the two figures who were on top of the stump. One seemed to be kneeling, holding the other one in his arms. Walking towards the stump, Stiles felt his knees weaken, stomach turning. His Dads arms wrapped around him but Stiles fought as the pack stood in quiet and shock.

“No…..NO!!!”

Stiles fought to get away from his father as things became clearer. The darkness which clouded around him finally crashed down, making it hard to breathe. To live. Breaking away from his dad, he stumbled over to the stump. The closer he got, the more he wanted to leave as features began to form on the duo.

The man in the leather jacket held the younger one in a hoodie close to his body, shoulders heaving as the man whispered to the other. The younger didn’t move, not even a twitch. The closer he got, the more he could pick up what Derek was saying until Derek seemed to realise who was behind him.

“He won’t heal” Derek’s body seemed to shake with each word “I…I tried.”

Stiles was directly on top of them now, clear view of Derek huddled over Chris’ prone body. His unbreathing body. The wolf alternated between telling his eldest son he was going to be ok and placing kisses on his forehead as he tried to wipe away the blood.

Stiles stood in a trance, unable to process just what he was seeing. It wasn’t until Derek started rocking his son in a movement of comfort, his sobs becoming louder until the clearing became filled with a chorus of anguished, heart-breaking sobs that Stiles was zapped out his stupor.

Collapsing behind the duo, Stiles wrapped Derek in his own arms and held on tight. He enclosed his hands into Derek’s, helping him hold the body of his son.

Together they cried.

Stiles couldn’t stop holding the other wolf. Not when Zack clasped his shoulder in support, very much like he had done for Derek when Boyd had died. Not when magic filled the air and not when all he had left of the future was the man in his arms with no one to hold anymore and the ghost of a touch on his shoulder.


	13. Chapter 13

They didn’t leave Stiles’ bed for over a week after the fight and honestly neither even tried. They left to use the bathroom and grab food once in a while but other than that they lay there and took solace in each other. They didn’t see or speak to anyone other than each other. Nobody else could know what they were going through.

Stiles felt like he was in a bubble. A bubble which was slowly getting smaller and smaller. He couldn’t even describe how he felt because he didn’t even know himself. All he knew was that there was a world outside this room, away from Derek and he wanted no part of it. He guessed Derek felt the same. The wolf had states where he was responsive to Stiles and other where he was silent, content to stare out the window and let his eyes glaze over. Stiles missed them. So much to the point where he felt like his heart was going to break. But still he just held Derek through it all.

For the first few days, time was broken up by instances of knocking and cell phone ringing. It stopped once Derek got up and smashed both phones in a – for now – unusual fit of emotion. Once the noise stopped he simply turned around and climbed back into bed. Eventually, the message was received: They didn’t want to see anyone.

The ninth day they had survived without their kids marked a benchmark for Stiles.

  1. It was the first day he actively got out of bed for longer than 5 minutes
  2. It was the day his father had reached the end of his tether and broken into the apartment.



Stiles was stood in the kitchen with a cup of coffee cradled in his hands when he heard the snip of the lock. He couldn’t find it in himself to be angry. He couldn’t find it in himself to feel anything as he heard a chair scrape across the floor and a huff when his Dad took a seat. Even then, he couldn’t tear is gaze away from the sight outside. He knew in time he would be angry that the sun could shine when he had lost his world but today was not the day.

He didn’t face his dad when the man let out a load groan “Jesus kid. I have no idea what to say…”

“Then don’t. Don’t say anything.” Stiles replied, voice emotionless.

So his dad said nothing. Just sat there and waited.

Finally, the bubble Stiles seemed to live in burst. “I thought when Mom died that would be the worst pain to feel but this” Stiles snorted “this is worse and I don’t know how to get through it.”

He sighed as he took another sip of his coffee before walking over to the machine to top it up some more “I feel like part of me will never….get over this. Another part of me is sort of away from me, looking at myself like this and wanting to shake myself. I didn’t know them for long so how can I mourn them this bad? Its….dad I don’t understand.”

Stiles dropped his coffee onto the counter as he rested his hands on top of the smooth surface “I…..God Dad what do I do?” he asked as he put his head into his hands and cried. He didn’t move even when his Dad wrapped him in comfort from behind.

John placed a tender kiss onto the back of his head before he spoke “Everything you feel son is ok to feel. You have…doesn’t matter the circumstance or the situation you are still going through something that nobody should ever go through. Don’t ever feel like what you feel is wrong or that you have no right.”

Stiles snorted even though he didn’t feel like laughing. He leant back into his father’s embrace, happy to have someone hold him up for a while “How’s the pack?”

“Ok, few scrapes here and there but ok. Worried about you guys but Cora threatened them with her claws if they kept coming near the apartment.” Stiles nodded in acknowledgement “How’s Derek?”

Stiles tensed, unsure of how to proceed. “He’s…..not good dad. Worse than me. Or not worse, just taking it harder.” Stiles paused “It’s to be expected when his, our, child died in his arms.”

John’s arms tightened around him but Stiles, now that he was speaking, just couldn’t stop the words “Chris was still alive when he got there. Never even fought in the end. He just ran and held him. At least….shit, at least he didn’t die alone right? That’s something right?!”

Stiles turned to finally face his father. John’s eyes widened when he saw the state of his son but Stiles took solace in the fact that John didn’t look so good himself. He led Stiles to sit on the chair he had vacated before siting opposite him.

“Look. The world at the moment, it seems like a dark place. You feel like you want to sleep and never wake up and I understand. I really do. But this, this will pass. You and Derek….you have a wonderful future ahead of you with two amazing kids who you have yet still to have. See this as a…opportunity. To gain back what you lost…”

Stiles grunted “Why? Why have a family when they are destined to die?!” He could feel his temper rising with each second that passed “What does that make us?! What kind of people are we, to have and raise a kid just to know that he has to die for our pack, for his parents? I don’t…dad if this is the end result is it not better to just leave it as it is??”

John fixed him with a hard look. “And what about Zack? Does he deserve this? He lived, he survived and now because you are scared you are taking away any chance of him being here in our lives?”

Stiles sagged, the fight leaving him “Dad, your saying this is a second chance to enjoy their lives. To me it’s another opportunity to relive his death and I can’t do this again. I wouldn’t…Derek wouldn’t survive sending our son into the past just for him to come back dead. Maybe it is selfish on our part but it has to be better than the alternative.”

John lent over and grasped his hand “Just don’t think about it now. This is way into the future and right now my concern is for you and for Derek. I want the two of you to be stable before any decisions are made, understood?”

Stiles nodded, wondering how on earth they would ever be ok.

 

+++

 

To say Stiles was shocked to see Chris Argent walk out of the bedroom when he was about to show his Dad to the door would be an understatement. The shock was doubled when Chris wrapped him in a hug before he left, telling him he will survive.

Stiles may have jogged into the room, part of him still (unfairly) cautious of the fact the hunter was alone with his wolf. Pausing in the doorway, Stiles looked over at the man in his bed. For once Derek wasn’t looking out the window but instead was facing forwards, feet flat on the bed so his knees were up. Resting on his thighs was what looked like a pile of fluff. As he walked closer and then eventually climbed into bed next to Derek, he realised it was a teddy.

A teddy with button eyes and mismatched, different colour limbs.

Stiles stroked the teddy “Where did you get this?”

Derek didn’t take his eyes off of it “Chris gave it to me. It was Allison’s.”

Stiles chuckled as he buried his face into Derek’s shoulder “It’s the boy’s favorite toy.”

Both stared at it in silent contemplation before Derek turned to face the other man “Well….I guess we better keep it safe for them.”


	14. Chapter 14

Amidst everything, Stiles had forgotten it was not only close to Christmas but also close to Derek’s birthday. Things had improved over the following few weeks but the pack had decided on a subdued Christmas celebration. Stiles, Derek, John and Argent had decided to spend the day together with the pack joining in for the nighttime. Nothing big or ostentatious, just a little gathering to celebrate life and the things yet to come.

Stiles and Derek had not left each other’s side. There were good days and bad days, days where one couldn’t get out of bed and days where they were so weighed down with emotion it was hard to think but the good days were starting to shine through. For Stiles his chat with his Dad was his break through moment, for Derek it was his chat with Argent. He never told Stiles what was discussed but he was still grateful for whatever the man had said.

Nothing was ever deliberated, not them as a couple or the kids but somehow things had started to fall into place. Stiles knew and accepted Derek and he were end-game and, to be honest, there were worse people to spend his life with. In fact, he struggled to think of somebody he wanted more. He had a good man, a man he seriously cared for but also he had someone who could hold him up when he needed to be. Stiles, instead of frowning when he thought of the two of them, began to smile instead. Sometimes Derek would look at him and he could tell that the man felt the same.

So that’s how they happened. With no conversation, no debate. It was suddenly just them and really, that was the thing that got him through the bad days.

So Christmas approached, presents were bought and food was prepared. Yes, granted the efforts of four bachelors didn’t make for an amazing spread but thankfully Melissa had come prepared for the nighttime efforts. As the pack settled to watch ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’ (A Stilinski tradition which Stiles WILL turn into a Stilinski-Hale one) his father beaconed Derek and him into the kitchen, a cream coloured envelope in his hands. He simply lay it on the kitchen table, gave them both a smile then left them in a state of intrigue and confusion.

Derek was the one to take charge as he ripped open the envelope and removed its contents. Not a few seconds later he began to read the letter to a seated Stiles.

 

_Yo Dad and Pops,_

_Hope this reaches you ok (Who’d have thought that trying to send a letter back in time was harder than sending a person? Pops tried to explain it once but to be honest I wasn’t listening. I was watching TV at the time. You should know better!)._

_Dad once sat us down once and tried to tell us what the past month has been like for you guys and we are so sorry that we have been the cause of such pain and hurt for you both. When we realised how things were meant to play out, we wanted to send this as soon as we came back but you guys stopped us. You said time needed to play out this way. But here we are, years later and sending this to you. Magic!!_

_The things that happened, the whole situation was how it was meant to be. We didn’t quite click at the time but once the coven arrived we knew what we were meant to do. Sorry about the drink. I would tell you it is the last time we ever do it but that would be a lie._

_(You grounded us and we really wanted to go to a party and if some form of flower ended up in your coffee then that is totally not my problem)._

**_(It is his problem. I tried to stop him.)_ **

_(It was your idea numb-nuts. Go away!!)_

_Anyway, I’m ok. We came back and I was all good. Don’t ask why, nobody is quite sure. So yeah, we are all ok. Well, maybe not grandpops. Kinda thought that the sight of his grandkids magically appearing in his front room all bloodied was going to end him but hey, we now know his heart is going strong._

_So yeah, time to wrap this up. It was so cool seeing you guys before we arrived. Seriously, we were raised with tales of your youth and it was nice to see half the stories were not exaggerated (Apart from Pops deciding he was a Beacon Hills version of Batman in half of them. Didn’t believe it when I was 7, don’t believe it now.)._

_We love you and can’t wait to meet you…_

_Again?_

_Finally?_

_Gah, this confuses me._

_Love Chris and Zack._

 

Stiles came to stand beside Derek as he pulled another piece of paper out the envelope. No not a piece of paper. A photograph.

As soon as Stiles saw it, he laughed harder than he had in weeks.

The main figures in the picture were Chris and Derek, seated at a table with Stiles and Zack standing either side of them. In front of them was a birthday cake. Chris and Derek each had a birthday badge on. Derek’s said ‘56’, Chris’s said ‘25’. Both birthday boys had paper hats on but what made the picture was the contrasting expressions. While Chris smiled, Derek had a grumpy frown with a face covered in glitter. On either side, Stiles and Zack had their hands up mid-cheer also donning party hats.

Looking closer, Stiles could see the effects of age on both of the elder family members. Both had gray hair, crow’s feet and were slightly podgier then their younger selves but he had to admit, Derek suited old age. Even with the grump-tastic expression.

Shifting his attention from the photograph to the very real man stood next to him, he saw the same emotion which was thumbing through his entire body.

The hope he felt in that moment never left him. Throughout all the trails of life, it stayed within him until the end.

When the day came where he and Derek said goodbye to the boys, knowing they were about to change history and set the path for their future, Stiles could categorically say he didn’t regret a single thing.

 

 

 

 

 

Apart from giving the boys sugar as an experiment when they were younger. He very much regretted that.


End file.
